This week’s Scoreboard featuresΒ Linkin Park’s new album and spotlights Ariana Grande and One Love Manchester
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated June 10, 2017
See the full chart at http://www.billboard.com/charts/artist-100
| Billboard Artist Top 10 | Name | Billboard 200 Album Rank | Billboard Hot 100 Singles | Highest Charting Single |
| 1 | Linkin Park | 1 | 1 | 50: Heavy |
| 2 | Kendrick Lamar | 2 | 6 | 4: Humble |
| 3 | Bruno Mars | 7 | 2 | 2:Β That’s What I Like |
| 4 | Ed Sheeran | 6 | 2 | 5:Β Shape Of You |
| 5 | Drake | 4 | 3 | 24:Β Passionfruit |
| 6 | Harry Styles | 3 | 1 | 17: Sign Of The Times |
| 7 | Chris Stapleton | 5 | 1 | 97:Β Either Way |
| 8 | BTS | – | – | |
| 9 | Chainsmokers | 16 | 3 | 8: Something Just Like This |
| 10 | Justin Bieber | 92 | 2 | 1: Despacito (Remix) |
This week marks the 14th different #1 album on the Billboard 200 this year, a new release from Linkin ParkΒ One More Light. The California rock veterans also take #1 on the Artist 100, and on the Hot 100Β Luis Fonsi,Β Daddy Yankee, andΒ Justin Bieber notch their third week at #1 with “Despacito (Remix).”
Country’s Rascal Flatts have the week’s second biggest new album, Back To Us
Linkin Park Go Light
The new Linkin Park album is the band’s seventh and perhaps least rocking. The band’s heyday as one of alternative rock’s biggest groups took place in the early and mid 2000’s. However, this decade, @linkinparkΒ has only reached the top 40 of the Hot 100 twice. 2010’s “The Catalyst” overlaid synthesizers over the band’s guitars. 2012’s “Burn It Down”Β turned up the guitarsΒ as the band took its soundΒ towards EDM. The 2014 albumΒ The Hunting Party went back to the band’s rock’s rootsΒ but despite the favorable reviews, none of its singles made the Hot 100. This year’sΒ One More Light is a pivot. The Hunting PartyΒ rock sound is abandoned forΒ EDM, hip-hop, and, yes, pop. Lead single “Heavy” ft.Β Kiiara not only brings a female vocalist (does @linkinpark want to beΒ The Chainsmokers?), but also slows the Linkin pace down enough to make the single eligible for lite FM radio. Perhaps @linkinpark is influenced by the softer version of rock-hip-hop that madeΒ Twenty One Pilots America’s biggest band last year. It may be working, “Heavy” sits at its peak of #50 of the Hot 100 this week and may soon become the band’s third top 40 hit on the Hot 100 this decade.
Linkin Park put the West Coast sunsetΒ light on their album cover
On Ariana Grande and Manchester
The May 22 suicide bombing at the Manchester Arena in Britain killed 23 and injured 119. For Europe, suchΒ terrorist incidents have become more common in recent years, but this tragedy was amplified in particular due to its circumstancesΒ –Β right outside the arena, right after a sold outΒ Ariana GrandeΒ concert. Grande, Billboard’s #7 artist of 2016, had been on the European leg of her Dangerous Woman Tour, and the show was sold out, over 14,000 fans attended. Fatalities included both concert goers and parents waiting on their children outside the arena; the youngest victim killed was an eight-year old girl. The setting of the attack outside a pop concert mobilized artists worldwide. Grande paused her tour and released a defiant statement on Instagram including a line “we will not quit or operate in fear.”
Grande’s full statement from May 26
The tragedy put Grande in a greater spotlight than her pop successes. Ari announcedΒ Β a #onelovemanchester benefit concert andΒ visited multiple families and victims of the attack at Manchester hospitals a few days before the concert took place. #onelovemanchester on June 4thΒ included not only AriΒ but also the music world’s biggest stars includingΒ Katy Perry,Β Miley Cyrus,Β Coldplay,Β Pharrell,Β Justin Bieber, and others.Β With the continuation of terrorist attacks worldwide, the concert demonstratedΒ music’s healing powers andΒ framedΒ @arianagrande as the voice for the world’s youth, especially young girls and women. You can watch the full concert below, which serves as a greatΒ reminder that music transcends keeping score and unites people worldwide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9yak899MUs
